Rich Rodriguez wants his team comfortable being uncomfortable
West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez wants his team to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
And the second practice of fall camp certainly didn’t fit under that criteria.
“I didn’t think we took great steps today. In fact, I thought we were a little bit soft a times. Got some good in but it wasn’t the step that we probably needed to take so we’ve got to get better tomorrow,” he said.
While the players still weren’t donning shells, Rodriguez wasn’t pleased with how his team as a whole failed to operate at full speed.
“It should be easier tor in full speed in shorts, right? That was the part that probably got me a little riled up at times because we were in shorts and it’s nice weather. If you think this is hot and humid you haven’t lived anywhere else, so I’ve got to address that with the team,” he said.
The tempo that West Virginia operates their practices are able to expose some of those issues a little sooner and it goes back to finding a way to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Overall, it was a step back from the first day when Rodriguez was pleased with the overall effort largely because the team didn’t build on that.
That’s especially true because Thursday’s practice was similar to what was being done on the first day.
“So, it should be faster, more efficient and when it’s not then it tells me mentally we’re not taking the step we can take. And when I see that I say something,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez admittedly often feels this way early in fall camp but did wake up feeling good until what unfolded.
Still, Rodriguez does believe that his team is a conscientious group and has taken what he has told them to heart so while overall he was disappointed with the second practice he isn’t discouraged.
“In our guys defense I think they want to be good. I really do. So, I’m not down on them but I have to remind ourselves and I’ll remind our staff when we have our staff meeting in a little bit that it’s natural to gravitate to average or below average in everything,” he said.
The focus is on improving moving forward.
“You want to define an evaluation. You know what an evaluation is? That guy is good enough to win with. That’s it. What’s that mean? Plays hard, knows what the hell he’s doing. Don’t make it complicated,” he said.
